Qld education: Labor blasted for lagging teacher numbers

The Opposition has blamed Queensland’s worsening teacher shortage on workplace violence, housing undersupply and unreasonable work demands.

Workplace violence, a lack of housing supply and untrained teachers having to take on other subject workloads is causing a major education workforce shortage, the state Opposition has claimed.

Opposition education spokesman Christian Rowan hit out at the state government for failing to recruit sufficient teachers or preventing them “leaving in droves”.

Dr Rowan said the government had failed on its election promise to recruit 6190 new teachers and more than 1000 teacher aides.

He said a “comprehensive workforce plan” that was specific region-by-region was key.

“In Queensland there is a teacher workforce crisis which has been going on for a long period of time, we aren’t recruited or retaining the teachers needed,” Dr Rowan said.

“It’s simply not good enough.

“Our teachers need to be valued and respected, and they need to be safe in workplaces, unfortunately in Queensland there has been a growing number of work cover claims, there needs to be a zero-tolerance policy to occupational violence.”

Dr Rowan said housing stock for teachers in rural and remote areas was inadequate and that all teachers did not have access to quality professional development opportunities.

He said it had all combined to an industry exodus.

Dr Christian Rowan has accused the state government of failing to properly address a growing teacher shortage.

“Many of our teachers who have been trained to provide one form of teaching, maybe maths, are being asked to teach other areas they are not trained in,” he said.

Acting Education Minister Di Farmer said Queensland had about a 95 per cent retention rate and a 2 per cent vacancy rate.

Ms Farmer said she recognised there were challenges in attracting and retaining teachers, issues not unique to Queensland.

However, Ms Farmer said the LNP in its eight years of Opposition was yet to show a single costed education policy.

“All they do is snipe from the sidelines – they’ve got no ideas and nothing to offer the people of Queensland. It’s embarrassing,” Ms Farmer said.

Ms Farmer said the state government was open to new ideas but accused the LNP of lacking any of substance.

“For example does Christian Rowan or the LNP understand that primary school teachers already deliver lessons in all core subject areas?” she said.

“Or that the department already supports secondary school teachers to gain additional experience so they can teach subjects other than the ones covered in their initial training areas, including the 3100 teachers who have recently benefited from our online STEM program?”